5 areas South Carolina needs to improve for 2015
Ending a season on a high note with bowl win is always a great way to go into the offseason, and that’s exactly what happened for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Although the Gamecocks finished above .500, it was far from what many expected out of Steve Spurrier’s team in 2014 and his coaching staff is now faced with many questions as they head into the offseason.
Here’s the five areas where South Carolina needs to improve the most for next season.
- Quarterback pressure — The obvious area where South Carolina struggled the most was pressure from the defensive line, which is ironic considering that’s an area the Gamecocks shined in through recent years. The Gamecocks recorded just 14.0 sacks in 13 games, good for last in the SEC and 119th nationally. As a residual effect, the lack of pressure left a young, inexperienced secondary out to dry, resulting in a vulnerable pass defense.
- Run defense — Honestly, defense as a whole can be greatly improved for 2015, but the Gamecocks’ run defense is especially dismal. South Carolina’s 212.3 rushing yards allowed per game was only better than Texas A&M’s run defense in the SEC. In fact, the Gamecocks never held a team under 100 rushing yards and the best performance they had was allowed 119 rushing yards to South Alabama. A particular down point of the season was South Carolina’s combined run defense of 739 yards and nine touchdowns against Auburn and Tennessee. With how talented many SEC running backs are, a capable run defense is a must for a successful 2015 season.
- Turnover margin — South Carolina finished with a minus-2 turnover margin, far below what Gamecock fans have been used to in recent years. From 2011-13, finished with a combined plus-22 TO margin. Simply put, South Carolina’s did not do a good job of creating opportunities for the offense. In so many situations, turnovers can change the momentum of an entire game. Unfortunately for South Carolina, it was on the wrong side of many of those momentum shifts.
- Quarterback — Dylan Thompson was more than capable at quarterback and performed well in his final season with the Gamecocks. He finished the season as the SEC’s leading passer with 3,574 yards and 26 touchdowns. So while QB wasn’t an issue in 2014, it will quickly become one in the offseason. Thompson is graduating and South Carolina doesn’t have many options behind him. The two quarterbacks — Connor Mitch and Perry Orth — combined for just eight passing attempts in 2014. There won’t be much experience at the position for 2015 and will be a huge area of concern and one the coaches will need to improve quickly.
- Fourth quarter play — South Carolina finished with a 7-6 record, but it could have been much better, especially if the Gamecocks would have performed better in the fourth quarter. They suffered three fourth-quarter collapses in 2014 and all came against SEC East opponents. In those games against Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, South Carolina held a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, yet lost all three. Good teams don’t let big leads slip away like that and the Gamecocks will need to remedy this issue in 2015.